But, that’s pretty much where the fun stopped for the Buckeyes and head coach Urban Meyer.

The celebratory mode quickly went somber with the news that 4-star quarterback Emory Jones was pulling out of his verbal commitment to Ohio State. Instead, he would be signing with Florida and leaving the Buckeyes without a major quarterback commit in the class.

OSU then lost out on just about every prospect that was making a decision with Ohio State involved too.

That was the final straw for the Buckeyes tenuous hold on the No. 1 spot, as Georgia’s big day and the Buckeyes losses combined to put the Bulldogs on top.

It’s left a lot of people wondering why, considering Ohio State has been in the mix for the national championship for the entirety of the College Football Playoff era.

Head coach Urban Meyer seemed to have a quick answer when he met with the media on Wednesday afternoon.

Meyer spent most of his time railing against the balancing act needed to be done for his roster. On the one hand there are still NFL decisions to be made, on the other there is a national signing day to focus on.

“What I’ve had happen to me is I’ve talked to several players, and my answer to them — because we’re straightforward with them — is that I don’t know if I have a scholarship right now because I don’t know who’s leaving for the NFL Draft,” said Meyer, via Bucknuts. “A couple times, more than a couple, I got a comment back saying, ‘Coach, this school is telling me if I don’t sign on (December) 20th, I’m out. They’re taking my scholarship offer.'”

Clearly that has irked Meyer, who was no fan of this move to begin with.

But, it points out a unique situation for the Buckeyes, who along with teams like Alabama, Clemson and a few other select programs have a lot more fluctuation in a roster due to numerous NFL early entrant decisions.

For the rest of the college football world, early entrants aren’t really a thought or they are easily identifiable as the process goes on.

It means the Buckeyes head coach must keep a list of players who could leave in the back of his mind, yet still not know exactly who will or won’t be back. That leaves him guessing as to the real number of players that could be added to a class.

When you’re in the running for the No. 1 class in the country like Ohio State was and still is, the timeframe moving up isn’t the best thing in the world. At least that seems to be the early return on the 3-day period that began on Wednesday morning.

Meyer certainly isn’t going to be shy in sharing his thoughts and learning from others in the coaching game.

“I don’t know right now,” he said. “I’m anxious to go to the head coaches’ meetings and listen. Do I think it’s all negative? I was really dead-set against it. I’m looking at this (list of signees) right here, dead set against what? That’s unbelievable. But I think there’s going to be some very good dialogue, and I want to listen.”

We’re guessing Meyer is going to put his two cents in toward eliminating the early signing period or completely blowing up the system as we know it.

What’s happening after day one of the first early singing period certainly showed this change may not be good for the Buckeyes. It also showed there is going to be some work ahead of him for the 2018 recruiting cycle unlike some other coaches.

That also means the Buckeyes and other “brand name” programs are going to have to stretch the recruiting efforts thinner than others. While many programs will be done by Frida and off to the races on the 2019 class in earnest, OSU likely won’t be so lucky.

With NFL decisions looming and roster spots either going unfilled or filled by players the Buckeyes wouldn’t normally be recruiting, what happens on February’s singing day should be very interesting.

Related

Andy Coppens is the Founder and Publisher of Talking10. He's a member of the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) and has been covering college sports in some capacity since 2008. You can follow him on Twitter @AndyOnFootball

Greg Schiano out at Ohio State, Michigan’s Mattison reportedly in

In terms of rivalries, there is no more intense in the Big Ten than Michigan an Ohio State. It’s one that lives on in the fans, players and coaches for 365 days a year.

On Jan. 7, 2019 things got a whole lot more interesting for the next 365 days that’s for sure.

First, news broke that defensive coordinator Greg Schiano will not be back with the Buckeyes under new head coach Ryan Day. Many believed this past season wasn’t up to par for the Buckeyes and Schiano seemed likely to take the fall for that.

OSU finished this season ranked 72nd in total defense after back-to-back seasons in the top 10 of that category nationwide. The Buckeyes gave up over 400 yards of total offense this year as well.

So, who will replace Schiano? In a really interesting twist, multiple reports have come out stating that Day has his replacement ready — in the form of Michigan defensive line coach Greg Mattison.

According to Mike Sullivan of 97.1 The Ticket, Mattison’s contact with Michigan was about to be up and that Harbaugh chose not to renew his deal.

Thus, he is a free agent and Day has chosen to scoop him up.

From what I've heard, Greg Mattison called his defensive linemen yesterday and told them he's leaving to go coach at Ohio State. He had an expiring contract and told them Jim Harbaugh and Don Brown chose not to renew it. He'll be the DC at Ohio State.

Mattison is very familiar with this rivalry, having served as Michigan’s defensive coordinator under Brady Hoke (2011-2014) and then accepting just the defensive line coaching position on Jim Harbaugh’s staff.

His defenses were very consistent in his four seasons as defensive coordinator. Michigan was never worse than 31st in the country in total defense and peaked at No. 6 in his final season at the helm of the Wolverines defense.

Coaches plying their trade on both sides of the rivalry is nothing new, but it is a rarity overall.

Related

BREAKING: Urban Meyer announces retirement

Last week, FootballScoop.com reported that Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer would be stepping down by the end of the 2019 season and likely by the end of this season.

They also reported that Ryan Day would take over as the new head coach once that happened.

After a weekend in which the rest of the media attempted to discredit the report, it is now exactly what is happening.

Doug Lesmerises of Cleveland.com broke the news early this morning. In the report, Lesmerises notes that Meyer is being forced to step down due to complications from a cyst on his brain.

The Rose Bowl game against Pac-12 champion Washington will be the final game he will coach at Ohio State.

Additionally, Ryan Day, who replaced Meyer as interim head coach while he was serving a three-game suspension to start the year will take over as the full-time head coach starting next season.

More information will be made available at a news conference scheduled for 2pm ET.

Meyer has had one of the most successful tenures as a head coach in Buckeyes history. He’ll retire having never lost to Michigan (7-0), won three Big Ten championships and with an 82-9 overall record at the helm of the Scarlet and Gray.

OSU athletic director Gene Smith is the one who decided Day would get the job on a permanent basis, seeing what the Buckeyes did under his leadership in that three-game stint earlier this year and hoping to ride the wave of young coaches making big splashes.

His rise up the coaching ranks comes just as the Buckeyes are putting up some of the most dynamic numbers in the pass game that college football has ever seen.

Star quarterback Dwayne Haskins could potentially top the 5,000-yard and 50 touchdown marks in the upcoming Rose Bowl game.

Related

Talking10 Podcast Episode 100: Something, something Urban Meyer

Ohio State made its decision on Urban Meyer. Andy and Phil are here to break it all down for you and give you the truth in a hazy situation. What better way to celebrate episode 100 of the podcast than to spend 50 minutes breaking down a mess of a situation in Columbus, right?

We’ll talk our reactions to the press conference, break down the actual findings of OSU’s investigative report and we’ll even talk how the media-at-large and the OSU media handled the fallout from Wednesday night’s press conference.

Don’t forget you can listen to the podcast each week via Radio Public and other podcasting apps.

Related

Urban Meyer and OSU AD put on suspension following investigation

The media stakeout of the Ohio State Board of Trustee’s meeting can now end. It only took 12 hours or so, but answers finally came.

According to multiple reports, including from the AP, OSU head coach Urban Meyer is suspended for the first three games of the season. In addition, athletic director Gene Smith will serve the same suspension from Aug. 31 to Sept. 16 — both will not receive pay during that time frame as well.

BREAKING: Ohio State suspends coach Urban Meyer for 3 games along with athletic director for mishandling domestic abuse case. pic.twitter.com/kSGj56mtpB

Both came under fire as this story unfolded. It began just prior to the Big Ten media days in late July, the story that Zach Smith had been arrested for criminal trespassing in April of this year broke and Meyer fired Smith on Monday morning of the start of Big Ten media days.

Brett McMurphy then detailed in an exclusive report that Smith had previously been “arrested” back in 2015 for a second allegation of domestic abuse against his then-wife Courtney Smith.

Meyer was questioned about that arrest and allegation from 2015 at media days and struck out against reporters repeated questioning. He would deny knowing of the arrest report back in 2015.

However, further reporting by McMurphy put that denial in to further question and Ohio State decided to get to the bottom of it.

Once Meyer was put on paid administrative leave, he would put a statement out admitting to knowing about the 2015 incident and alerting athletic administrators of the domestic abuse allegations.

Meyer has stayed silent since that statement and awaited the outcome of the 14-day inquiry in to whom knew what and when and what action was taken.

That investigation ended this past Sunday, with the committee verbally advising the Board of Trustees on Monday morning of its findings. Two days later, the Board of Trustees would come to meet publicly and then behind closed doors to discuss what would happen to Meyer and others involved in this situation.

Meyer’s suspension is for the first three games, and on the field that is a big hit with three FBS games coming at the start of the season. OSU kicks off the year against Oregon State, plays a Big Ten contest against Rutgers and a massive game against TCU at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

We will have more on this situation and the reaction to what Meyer and Smith had to say on the talking10 Podcast tomorrow.